


Through Her Eyes

by Blazonix



Series: Together to the Future [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Accepting their new life, Companion Piece, Friendship, Gen, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 23:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6259807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blazonix/pseuds/Blazonix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She wakes up, but she's still dreaming. There is just no way she's Haruno Sakura, nope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through Her Eyes

She opens her eyes and freezes in horror.

This is not her boyfriend’s room.

This is not his bed, and he’s not lying next to her.

Everything is _pink_.

Panic rises in her, and she stumbles out of bed, legs tangled up in the comforter.

Tiny legs, she soon realizes.

Everything feels wrong, fingers too stiff, and she can barely keep her balance.

Someone’s changed her into a pair of pink pajamas.

Why pink, she thinks hysterically.

There is a full-length mirror in the bedroom.

She makes the mistake of glancing at it.

She screams.

-*-

A woman yells at her for screaming and being out of bed.

She doesn’t-

She doesn’t understand.

What?

She can feel herself breaking into pieces.

Why is she here instead of at her boyfriend’s house?

Why is she so small?

Why is there a woman screaming at her?

Why is there a tiny Sakura Haruno staring back at her in the mirror.

Why is everything _pink_?

-*-

She can’t help it; she cries.

She doesn’t stop crying even when they take her to the hospital for it.

She can’t stop crying because this is wrong.

Because they’re wrong.

She’s not Sakura. She’s not, she’s not, _she’s not_.

She has a name.

She cries some more when she realizes she can’t even pronounce it correctly in this new language.

-*-

These two people who call themselves her parents-

Well, maybe they are.

When someone says “Mom” or “Dad”, she thinks, “Yeah, those.”

She barely has a relationship with the woman who birthed her. The man who was supposed to be her father shows up every once in a while.

The greatest thing they’ve ever done for her was buy a box of Naruto manga for her birthday one year.

That was the last year they bothered.

Parents? What are those supposed to be?

These two apparently.

She’s dried her tears, and they think she’s had an emotional breakdown from watching ninjas train.

It’s bizarre how they came up with that one.

Still, even though she’s refusing to speak this awful new language (she hates it, _hates_ it), they never stop trying to get her to talk or stop feeding her.

They never stop trying to police her clothes or stop reading to her.

They never stop loving her any less.

If a tiny part of her wants to call them her parents, to wipe away the stain of her old ones, well, why not?

She might be here a while.

-*-

She begins speaking, and her parents breathe a sigh of relief.

She firmly squashes down the guilt by reminding herself why she stopped in the first place.

She was hoping to wake up by now.

This crazy, horrible dream, the dream of being Sakura Haruno. (Haruno Sakura, actually)

It turns into a nightmare when she realizes she’ll have to go to the academy.

Just until the real Sakura returns, she tells herself.

She tries to believe it too.

-*-

Her parents aren’t convinced, not after her meltdown from watching ninjas.

It’s terrible because she doesn’t want to go, they don’t want her to go, and she still has to convince them to go.

She manages it, barely.

It involved a lot of pep talk in front of the mirror and fake smiles.

-*-

Her parents drop her off, and it takes everything she has not to beg them to take her with them.

She arrives early, and finds a seat in the middle away from everyone.

Away from all the tiny children who are spouting about how awesome it’ll be to be a ninja.

She barely keeps herself from crying.

-*-

She sees them. The ones who will one day be-

They pick seats away from her, and she averts her eyes.

She doesn’t see Nar-

No, no, no.

She doesn’t care. She doesn’t care because Sakura will eventually return, and she’ll look down her nose at the class clown who always asks her out-

Her breath hitches.

No crying, she tells herself.

When Sakura gets back, she can deal with it herself.

-*-

It takes everything she has not to stare.

There is a boy with a dog. He’s sitting right next to her.

He has red marks on his face, and he is tiny.

Inuzuka Kiba is sitting next to her.

Why, why, why.

He’s already fidgeting in his seat, tapping on the desk, and she knows this is going to be a long day.

-*-

She goes on by pretending he doesn’t exist.

She pretends she doesn’t realize that she’s here to learn to be a murderer.

She tells herself she’ll have her life back the way she left it.

Sakura will be back to be her fangirl self, eventually.

When the girl returns, she’ll get to go home.

She’ll get her name back too. She has to.

-*-

Her self-made reality starts breaking when they have to actually start showing progress.

She stares down at the cartoon ninja, who stares back with evil, red eyes.

She’s learning how to kill.

This is wrong, she’s not even six yet.

She’s memorizing the best spots to kill a person, and she’s only _five_.

When she graduates, she’ll still be a child.

She’ll be a child who kills, who’s known the best spots to kill a person since she was five.

“Oi,” the boy next to her whispers, “it’s only a piece of paper. Don’t get so mad.”

Only? _Only_ a piece of paper?

What about when it’s not?

“Yes, for now. What about when we graduate? What about when it’s real?” She hisses to him.

“Then you do what you gotta do. Ninja’s kill, if you don’t want to be a ninja, don’t be a ninja,” he tells her, face completely serious.

She feels like she’s been slapped.

What? She doesn’t-

She looks at her paper to avoid looking at the boy with strange, wild eyes.

How can he say that?

“It’s not that simple.”

He doesn’t understand; he can’t understand. Sakura’s supposed to be a ninja.

She has to be.

“Why not?” He asks her.

“Because it isn’t!” She snarls as quietly as she can.

“Then tell me why,” The boy demands.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

She’s not even sure she understands.

This boy couldn’t hope to even try.

“I would. Probably.”

“No you-I’m not having this conversation with a kid. Leave me alone.”

She shouldn’t have said anything to begin with.

This boy’s eyes unnerve her, and his dog (Akamaru, her traitorous mind reminds her) stares at her too.

So, she tries to turn her back to him, to keep those eyes off of her.

Turns out school seats don’t work well for that.

“It’s not like you have to be a ninja because a manga told you to.”

She whips her head around, and she stares at him before she even truly comprehends his words.

_Because a manga told you to_

No, it couldn’t be-

But what if?

_Because a manga told you to_

He couldn’t possibly-

“It’s not like Kishimoto’s words are absolute.”

She feels like the she’s falling.

Her reality is shattering behind her.

Sakura, Sakura will be back. She’ll-

Wild eyes, stare into her soul, _knowing_.

She doesn’t know what to say, what to do.

“Y-you-“

“Time’s up! Leave your papers there and get out. Not you, Uzumaki! Stay behind!” Their teacher shouts.

She feels her words die in her mouth.

She doesn’t know what to say.

“We’ll talk more tomorrow.” He tells her before running off with his dog in his arms.

She’s left thinking, what?

She just doesn’t know.

-*-

She comes home late.

The teacher had to physically throw her out of the classroom.

She spends the rest of the day in a daze.

Her parents ask her what’s wrong, and all she can say is,

“I met a boy.”

They back off with knowing looks and secret smiles.

She wants to cry.

-*-

She goes to school with a heavy stomach and beating heart.

She thinks she’s going to throw up.

The boy gets there almost late and never once acknowledges her.

Does he?

Is he?

What about?

Did it even happen?

She can’t think, and she’s definitely not paying attention to the lecture.

-*-

He grabs her and forces her outside the moment lunch break starts.

“So,” he says.

So? So what?

So the sky is blue, school still sucks, and _she’s in a manga_.

“You just wake up one morning as the new you?”

Wake up?

Did she or is she still dreaming?

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

It’s shaky, but she nods.

Oh, is it shaky.

His dog barks at him, and she has the unpleasant reminder that it (Akamaru) can understand everything being said.

She panics for a moment, but he opens his mouth and begins to talk.

“I lived by myself,” he tells her, “and my favorite manga was a series called _Naruto_.”

It’s almost like siren’s song.

She can’t speak. She can’t help but listen.

His eyes, so wild, never leave her.

-*-

She’s not alone.

She’s dreaming; this isn’t real.

She’s not _alone_.

Sakura will be back; she’s going to wake up soon.

_She’s not alone anymore._

It’s real; it’s all real.

She is Haruno Sakura, but she doesn’t want to be.

She is Sakura, and someone else knows she’s not.

-*-

Her parents are panicking.

They think she’s having a relapse.

They try to keep her from going back to the academy, and she kicks them in retaliation.

It takes two days before sound returns to her voice.

She uses it to apologize.

These are her parents now; Sakura won’t be back because she’s already here.

-*-

She doesn’t know how to stop the panic now.

She’ll be the one being a ninja. She’ll be the one who has to kill.

She’ll be the one fighting for her life. She’ll be the one on Team 7.

Kiba tells her, “Everything’ll be fine.”

She grabs it like a lifeline.

She has a new mantra to keep her going.

-*-

It’s aggravating; _he’s_ aggravating.

He can’t sit still and has the attention span of a gnat.

Akamaru’s taking his notes for him!

He smells, and he likes annoying her.

He won’t quit bothering her during class, and she doesn’t even have time to be depressed.

He’s wonderful.

-*-

She takes it back.

He’s somehow roped her into going to his house for dinner.

She likes Akamaru well enough, but even she’s heard the stories.

The wild Inuzukas: ready to knock back, knock out, or knock up.

Sometimes all three at once, she’s heard.

Her being nervous is an understatement.

-*-

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Her mom asks.

“Um, uh,” she’s not sure how to put this, “I’m going to a friend’s house for dinner tomorrow?”

It comes out more of a question, but her mother seems to light up in delight.

“You have a friend? Is she pretty or ugly? Do you need things for matching bracelets?”

Oh, um.

She tries to smile, but all that comes out is a grimace.

How to put this gently?

“He’s a boy. He’s not really pretty, but I wouldn’t call him ugly either. I don’t think he’s interested in bracelets, and we’re just friends,” she says brightly.

Her mother stares at her.

She pokes her when she doesn’t say anything.

The name Inuzuka is definitely not being brought up.

-*-

She’s nervous, and her mother’s forced a basket of fruit on her.

Kiba’s big sister, Hana, gives her a gentle smile, and she thinks maybe this won’t be so bad.

It’s intimidating; the place smells of dogs, it’s crawling with people and ninken, it’s incredibly noisy, and it’s huge.

But the moment they see her, the Inuzuka become the very model of decorum; she’s impressed actually.

She doesn’t see anything wild and uncivilized about them.

Guess there was nothing to those rumors after all.

-*-

Kiba ruins it of course.

They were having a nice, quiet meal, and he has to jump on the table to hit someone.

Of course he does.

She doesn’t even know what caused him to flip out.

A plate goes flying, scuffles are breaking out, and dinner’s been ruined.

-*-

It takes her a while to figure it out.

Kiba keeps forcing her back, and she has to get used to the idea of always being surrounded by strangers.

(They aren’t strangers, not really)

She gets used to loud, violent dinners and warm love.

-*-

They’re no longer speaking to her in courteous tones; they no longer show her a calm, collected face.

The Inuzuka being polite? Fake.

That fake politeness? Yeah, they were just being rude.

The Inuzuka really are wild.

They’re just not uncivilized.

They’re different certainly, but that doesn’t mean they’re lesser for it.

Inuzuka believe in loyalty, strength, pack, and freedom.

She thinks she understands.

-*-

“You’re coming over for dinner tomorrow,” she tells him, “Mom and Dad want to meet you.”

He grins back and says, “Sure.”

He doesn’t need to tell her he’s bringing Akamaru; it’s a given.

She thinks she’s freaking out.

She kind of wishes he would freak out with her, but he’s never been the type.

It’s probably for the best; only one of them needs to be sane.

And Kiba? He’s too crazy to be sane.

-*-

“So, your Sakura’s,” her mom hesitates, “friend.”

Her dad is giving Kiba a hard, sizing look.

She knows they see his puppy; they see his red marks, wild hair, and eyes that scream Inuzuka.

Oh, and he’s a boy. There’s that too.

She wants to melt through the floor.

He gives her an amused look, like he knows exactly what she’s thinking.

He probably does.

He gives her parents a positively angelic smile and holds up Akamaru.

The ninken’s holding a small sunflower, and she wants to know how he was hiding that.

Seriously, how did she not notice?

“Akamaru thought you might like a flower. He saw some on the way here and thought of you,” Kiba says tilting his head just so.

Her mom positively melts into goo.

Um, what?

-*-

Dinner’s served, and they’re all sitting at the kitchen table.

She still kind of wants to run away.

Dad keeps giving Mom disapproving looks when he’s not glaring at Kiba.

Kiba’s still pretending he’s an angel.

Mom is currently cooing over Akamaru in her lap.

Akamaru is playing up his puppy cuteness as much as possible.

She wonders if Kiba bribed him.

“So,” her dad asks grumpily, “how did you meet Sakura?”

“We sit next to each other in class,” he says.

She’s relieved because that’s reasonable. People sitting next to each other and becoming friends is reasonable.

Then she’s reminded this is Kiba because he doesn’t stop.

“She wouldn’t stop looking at me one day, and we became friends,” he says far too brightly.

“I think everyone thinks she has a crush on me,” he adds as an afterthought.

She doesn’t even stop herself from sinking in her chair.

Melt, melt, she thinks.

Mom and Dad are giving her the look she knows too well; the one that says, “What’s wrong with you?”

Kiba gives her a smirk before clearing the air,

“She was just curious about me. I’m the only one with a ninken in class. She wasn’t sure how to ask,” he says, wiping away the smirk before her parents could see it.

Nothing he says was a lie, but there’s plenty of omission in that sentence.

He’s gone back to looking angelic.

Demon, she thinks.

She’s not sure how, but he manages to talk her father around.

Something about not having one of his own; it leaves her dad teary-eyed, whatever it is.

Her parents are reluctant to see Kiba and Akamaru leave; she almost has to pry them off.

They want to know when he’s coming back, and what his favorite foods are.

Demon, she thinks.

-*-

They have two new teachers: Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei.

Mizuki, who will end up a traitor, and Iruka, who will be Nar-

She stops that thought cold.

She can’t even think his name.

Everything’ll be fine, she tells herself.

That familiar feeling of fear sits in her chest, and she tells herself, _everything’ll be fine._

One day she’ll even believe it.

-*-

She used to avoid looking at them.

Those characters who would grow up to be the Rookie 9.

It takes her all this time to realize they’re not characters; they’re children.

They’re children. They're her future teammates and comrades.

She knows the story; she knows what’s coming.

How can she just let a child go through that?

If someone did that to her parents and made her see it over and over again…

If one of the Inuzuka decided to wipe out their whole clan, and only Kiba was left…

(He’d kill himself if Akamaru was taken from him)

Why does she have to go through this? What did she do wrong?

Why is she so useless?

-*-

She wants to say something, tell someone. Why does Sasuke have to suffer so much?

She could change it if she tried!

But that wouldn’t stop the Uchiha from launching their coup.

Can she really just look away?

Kiba’s knowing eyes cut into her, and she feels disgust.

She knows she can.

It hurts so much.

It hurts to be so disgusting.

-*-

The Uchiha are no more.

Kiba holds her hand, and Akamaru curls up into her lap.

It’s not enough, but it’s better than nothing.

She doesn’t think he realizes how much this signifies.

How much this means to her.

Because while she sees Sasuke, she also sees herself and Kiba.

She sees what being part of Konoha actually means.

And she loves both her parents and the Inuzuka too much to let it go.

-*-

Kiba’s walking her home when it hits her.

She stops.

Her thoughts are heavy, and the only thing she can think about is, what if.

What if she’s called on to kill her family? What if she’s the one left behind?

What if it ever happens to Kiba?

What if she gives up? What if she fails?

It feels like something is growing; she doesn’t know what.

She doesn’t know what she’s doing, but there is one thing she does know.

She tears her eyes away from the sky and looks at Kiba.

“I have to get stronger,” she tells him.

“Why?” He asks with sharp eyes.

What if, what if.

“I can’t fail,” she says grimly.

“Why?” He asks again.

If she fails then-

“Then I would die,” her hands shake until she clenches them into fists.

“Why?” He asks a third time.

He’s watching her with his knowing eyes, and she feels like he can see into her very soul.

He won’t stop asking until she actually says what she wants to say.

She takes a breath.

“I can’t let what happened to the Uchiha, happen to your family or mine. I can’t keep standing back and letting innocent people get hurt. I have to get stronger and protect them. I can’t do that if I die,” she says.

Truth, this is truth, she thinks.

She feels like she’s finally waking up.

He stares at her, and she wonders what he sees.

“Alright,” he says finally, “let’s head to my house then.”

She doesn’t know what he’s thinking, but she’ll follow him anyways.

-*-

“You want what?” Tsume asks flatly.

“The clan to train us,” Kiba repeats.

They’re staring each other down, and she can’t help but think,

 _Kiba, you moron_.

She’s pretty sure she isn’t an Inuzuka, and she’s also pretty sure Inuzuka Tsume is completely terrifying.

Kiba’s either the world’s bravest idiot, or the world’s most stupid martyr.

She’s not sure which.

Tsume bares her fangs, and Kiba mimics her.

Stupid martyr, she thinks.

Apparently, her knowledge of Inuzuka language is spotty because the only thing Tsume does is throw her head back and laugh.

“Alright, brat, alright.

Wait, what?

-*-

“Oi, pink brat, follow me. Brat, stay,” Tsume says while walking away, Kuromaru following.

She follows, but if she feels a bit hesitant, well.

It’s Inuzuka Tsume, enough said.

The clan head leads her to a traditional-styled room, and gestures her to sit.

She folds her legs and tries not stare at Kuromaru.

She’s never realized how big the ninken actually is until she’s sitting directly across from him.

Tsume takes a seat and stares her down.

She can feel her mouth drying.

Is Tsume going to kill her?

Make her battle for the right to learn from the Inuzuka?

“Well,” Tsume says, breaking her thoughts, “we knew this day would come.”

She blinks.

Huh?

Tsume bares a fanged grin.

“The brat has all but claimed you. You’re Inuzuka whether you want to be or not.”

_What?_

“Hana’s got dibs on you, says she doesn’t trust anyone else with her future sister.”

Um, ah.

Sakura’s not here right now, come back later.

Tsume throws her head back and laughs. Kuromaru rolls his one eye at her.

“Relax,” Tsume says with her grin, “claiming ain’t the same as marriage. The clan’s just getting their hopes up.”

Well, just so it’s clear then.

She thinks she manages a squeak.

“I’m told you have excellent chakra control, we’ve got a few things in mind for you, but you’re gonna have to swear our oath before you start,” Tsume tells her.

Swear an oath? Officially become Inuzuka?

“Um,” she interrupts hesitantly, “if you don’t mind me asking, why...?”

“Why are we letting in some random brat with no ninken?” Tsume guesses.

Not how she’d put it, but…

She nods.

“Because,” Tsume says looking her straight in the eye, “our future has decided you’re part of it whether we like it or not. Either we go down in a blaze or rise up in glory.”

She’s not sure what the clan head’s telling her, but it doesn’t stop the chill from seeping in.

She feels disquieted.

She swears her oath and is welcomed into her new family.

-*-

Hana’s awesome. She fully understands why Kiba raves on about his sister.

Every time she thinks, I can’t do this, Hana is there to tell her, yes, she can.

If it involves a bit of smacking, well that’s just par the course.

The older girl works her to the bone, and she feels like she’s getting stronger, bit by bit.

Hana distracts her from all those wild, unnerving eyes, and she puts her soul into learning.

(Those eyes have nothing on Kiba’s)

-*-

She’s correct in her initial assessment: Inuzuka Tsume is terrifying.

She’s not sure what it says about her friend who’s able to get back up and keep going.

Her own training’s nothing to laugh at, but his is just downright brutal.

Tsume launches Kiba through a tree, and she grabs her medical supplies.

There’s no way he’s not going to feel that one.

-*-

The Inuzuka train her in more than just medical jutsu.

She doesn’t have a ninken, but they’ve got that figured out.

They teach her how to shred a person to pieces, and she wonders if she needs to get red tattoos.

Eh, maybe not, her parents would kill her.

-*-

She doesn’t allow herself to stop.

She doesn’t stop learning. She doesn’t stop healing. She doesn’t stop moving.

She doesn’t allow herself to think the name Nar-.

-*-

It happens when she’s in bed sleeping.

Well, trying to because her thoughts just can’t leave her alone.

The future, the words rattle around in her brain, what about the future.

She’s Sakura, but she isn’t.

She’s had extensive training; the only looks she gives Sasuke are ones filled with guilt.

She’s never been asked out by Nar-

By _him_.

She doesn’t know what she’s doing.

She knows what’s coming up, and she knows what she needs to do.

She doesn’t think she’s strong enough to sit back and watch.

-*-

It gets to her.

Not even listening to her parents’ breathing helps.

Kiba, she thinks, Kiba will know what to do.

It’s really late, he’s undoubtedly sleeping.

It’d be awfully rude of her to just march into the compound this late at night.

But she’s an Inuzuka! And they were rude first, so there.

Still…

No, she needs to talk to him. She feels like something’s stretching her, pulling her apart.

Kiba will help her; he always does.

-*-

She sees Kiba’s bizarre house, half traditional and half Western. (Constant reconstruction and changing tastes, he tells her)

She sees his window on the second floor and doesn’t hesitate to climb up with chakra-soled feet.

She ignores the eyes watching her every movement.

She taps on his window.

-*-

He doesn’t even complain when she wakes him up, or when his bare feet hit the dirt.

He just gives her a sleepy stare, Akamaru hidden under his jacket hood.

She wonders what she did to deserve such a friend.

He motions to her and leads her to a nearby park

They settle on a bench and he places Akamaru in his lap so he can lean back to stare at the sky.

She’s trying to find the words she wants to say; she ends up staring at her knees.

She doesn’t know what she’s doing. She doesn’t know what to say.

The future, it echoes, what about the future.

“How do you do it?” She blurts out.

She doesn’t know what she’s doing.

“Do what?” He asks, flinching.

She thinks he may have been falling asleep.

The future, the future, the future, she thinks.

“How do you go on about just living, knowing what you do?” She asks still staring at her knees.

He’s quiet for a moment, and she can hear the word, future, echoing around them.

“I go on living,” he finally says.

It’s actually a very Kiba thing to say, but that’s not what she wants to hear.

“That’s not an answer!” She nearly yells.

It really isn’t.

“It is too,” he looks at her, “but somehow I don’t think that’s what’s bugging you.”

“O-Of course it is! What else would be bothering me?” She says playing with the ends of her dress.

_Future._

He lets out a sigh and reminds her why she came.

“You’re scared. You don’t want to be on Team 7. You don’t want to get hurt. You don’t want to be responsible if things do or don’t go according to the manga. You feel pulled in many directions and feel uncomfortable in your own skin. Am I on base?”

She has to remind herself to keep breathing. He knows, of course he knows.

He always knows.

“Right, so here’s the thing. You are Sakura, but you are not Sakura. You can’t do what she did, you don’t even know what all she did. Maybe you didn’t do something as simple as purchase something at a certain time and got someone killed. Maybe you did, you’ll never know.”

His eyes seem to bore into hers, those wild, knowing eyes.

“There’s nothing you can do but be yourself and do your best going forward. Maybe you’ll change everything for the better, for the worse, or not at all. Whatever happens, happens. Just live your life with no regrets.”

Whatever happens, happens?

Que sera, sera, she remembers someone saying once upon a time.

But, he’s right.

If she thinks about it.

She’s not the same; if she was trying to follow the manga to the letter, she’s already failed.

Do your best going forwards? Live with no regrets.

 _Everything’ll be fine_ , she remembers.

“Is that what you do? Live with no regrets?” She asks quietly.

Can she do it, is it possible?

“Well, yeah. I mean, I regret accidently stabbing Cousin Toshiro with chopsticks at dinner, I’m not perfect, but it’s working well so far,” he tells her.

“There’s…nothing I can do but go forward, living the life I want to live, right?”

Maybe she can do it, she thinks.

Living her own life instead of Sakura’s, it sounds…good.

“Yep, but we’re here too. We’ll go forward together,” he promises. Akamaru barks his agreement.

She’s not alone; she wonders when she forgot.

Moving forward together, she likes the sound of it.

Even if she falls off the edge of the world, he’ll be there either to pull her back up or fall down with her.

Akamaru will be there too, but that’s a given.

A deep affection wells in her, and she drapes herself over his arm to pet the top of Akamaru’s head.

“Stay with me for a little while longer?” She asks.

He offers her a tired grin, “Yeah.”

She smiles and they watch the stars for an hour before parting ways.

She goes to sleep dreaming of a future that is her own.

-*-

It’s graduation. She’s decided that she wants to wear her headband like a ribbon, because _she_ wants to.

Kiba’s changed things up and is wearing his on the arm of his new jacket.

With no regrets, she thinks.

He’s walking beside her. She holds Akamaru in her arms, the other part of his soul.

It’s an amazing trust he has in her.

“Do you think we did okay?” She asks, biting her lip.

Did they train enough, or did they do too much? Should she have…?

“Yeah,” he says, “we did good.”

Akamaru barks his agreement.

Everything’ll be fine.

Sakura looks at the sky, and it’s like she can see it again.

Was the sky always so blue?

Naruto's eyes are that blue, she thinks.

A tune from long ago echoes in head, and she can’t help humming.

She feels a shoulder brushing against her, and she looks into wild, knowing eyes.

She says,

“Together?”

He grins.

“Together.”

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted to write a quick Sakura P.O.V piece. I'll probably write a Sakura version of With our Comrades sometime after the next story.


End file.
